Iosepp (Crossroads)
History Early Life A child comes to life in Waset—a large city of the vast New Kingdom of Egypt,The New Kingdom of Egypt or First Egyptian Empire was the geographical entity that separated the Second and Third Intermediate Periods of Egypt chronologically, which saw the rise of the greatest pharaohs and story of Ancient Egypt but also the start of its downfall. This period was established by the pharaoh 'Ahmose I (Jˁḥ-ms(j.w),) Nebpehtire Ahmose Aakheperu Tutmesut Tjestawy (The Lord of Strength is Rê, Born of 'Aah, Great of Developments, Perfect of Birth, He who Knots Together the Two Lands) of his full regal title, he is known for having reunited both Egypts and its subjects under a single ruler, and for having initiated a massive construction and administrative reorganization program that made Egypt the strongest it's ever been as an independent sovereign state until 1922; it also led to the construction of the last pyramid built by native Egyptian rulers. The period ended with the pharaoh Ramesses XI (Rˁ-msj-sw,) Menmaatre Setepenptah Ramesses Khaemwaset Meriamun Netjerheqaiunu Kanakht Merire Userkhepesh Hedhefenu Werpehtisankhtawy Ityankhwedjaseneb Seheribmaat Seheteptawy (The justice of Rê is enduring, the chosen one of Ptah, Rê fashioned him, he appears in Waset, beloved of Amun, divine ruler of Iunu, Strong bull, beloved of Rê, He whose blow is powerful, he whose attacks are countless, He whose power is great, he gives new life to the two lands, life, prosperity, health, he reconciles the two lands under the majesty of Ma'at) of his full regal title, he is known for his very long, yet very passive reign, where nothing notable happened until his death where Egypt was once again divided in two, hence leaving it to the hands of Smendes (nsw-b3-nb-ḏdt, Nesbanebdjed,) Hedjkheperre Setepenre Nesbanebdjed Meriamun Kanakht Merire Suseramunkhepesheferseqaimaat Sekhempehti Hureqiufbehatuf Hepetem ... khesefdenden (Radiant manifestation of Rê, the chosen one of Rê, He of the Ba' ram, lord of Mendes, beloved of Amun, Strong bull, beloved of Rê, Amun empowers his strike to reinforce the Ma'at, Mighty of power, he who beats his opponents, they flee before him, he encircles ... wards off the wrath) of his full regal title in Lower Egypt and Herihor, Hemnetjertepenamun Hérihor Siamun (First Priest of Amun, Horus is Raised, Son of Amun) of his full regal title in Upper Egypt. Hérihor did not rule as King, but as Priest. under the ruler Seti IISeti II (Stẖj,) Userkheperure Setepenre Seti Meryenptah Kanakht Werpehti Nakhtkhepeshderpedjut-9 Aaneruemtawnebu (Powerful are the manifestations of Rê, the chosen one of Rê, Set, beloved of Ptah, Strong bull, great of strength, He who strikes victoriously the 9 bows, He whose victories are great in all the lands) of his full regal title, is known for his tumultous reign, both in history and historiography, for the dates surrounding his reign are not sure, but also for his rivalry with his half-brother and contestant at the throne 'Amenmesse (Jmn-msj-sw,) Menmire Setepenre Amenmesse Heqawaset Kanakht Merimaat Shementawy Werbiaytemipetsut Aa...ipetsut? (Eternal like Rê, the chosen one of Rê, Fashioned by Amun, ruler of Waset, Strong bull, beloved of Ma'at, he who strengthen the two lands, He who is great of miracles in Ipet'sut, Great of Ipet'sut?) of his full regal title, thought to have usurped the throne of his brother and plotted against him to promote another pharaoh, disputed to be either 'Amenesse's or Seti's son, and also rumored to have ruled in 1197 BC, Siptah (s3-Ptḥ,) Sekhaienre Meriamun Ramesses-Siptah Kanakht Merihapi Sankhtanebemkafraneb Saaiunu ... mi Itefre (He whom Rê causes to appear, beloved of Amun, Rê fashioned him, son of Ptah, Strong bull, beloved of Hapi, who causes the whole land to live by means of his Ka' every day, Made great in Iunu ... like his father Rê) of his full regal title, who is rumored to be 'Amenesse's son or protégé for he wasn't the crown prince yet became Pharaoh, but he's thought to be of Seti's descendency for when he assumed kingship, it was Tawosret (T3-wsr.t,) Sitre Meriamun Tausret Setepenmut Kanakht Merimaat Kanakht Merimaat Nebanemnisutmiitum Geregkemet Wafkhasut (Daughter of Rê, beloved of Amun, Mighty Lady, chosen of Mut, Strong bull, beloved of Ma'at, Strong bull, beloved of Ma'at, Lord beautiful of kingship, like Atum, Founder of Egypt, who vainquishes foreign countries) of her full regal title, royal consort of Seti II, who acted as his regent until his solitary reign, where his only notable action was to execute Chancellor Bay who brandished a seemingly too obnoxious swagger about having a role in Siptah's ascension to the throne, before dying in his second (or sixth) regnal year, making Tawosret the new, and last pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty of Egypt, making her queen, regent and pharaoh of Egypt—reminding of Gorgo, who, seven centuries later would be the daughter, consort, mother and co-queen of a Spartan king—Tawosret's reign ended in a civil war leading to the rise of Setnakht (stẖ-nxt(w)) Userkhaure Setepenre Setnakht Meriamunra Kanakht Werpehti Tutkhaumitatjenen Sekhemkhepeshderkheruef (Powerful are the forms of Rê, Chosen of Rê, Set is victorious, Beloved of Amun-Rê, Strong bull, of great valiance, He whose apparitions are as beautiful as Tatenen's, Powerful force, who pushes back the insurgents) of his full regal title, hence founding the twentieth Egyptian dynasty and ultimate one to rule the New Kingdom.—of two fellow Nubians;Geographically speaking—Nubia is a region that approximately represents Upper Egypt and northern Sudan—though ethnically, only his mother is supposed to be of true Nubian descent, whilst his other is meant to be of Kerman origins, the Kingdom of Kerma being a concurrent to the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, one that was absorbed in the 1500s BC under the reign of Djehutimose I (Ḏḥwtj-msj(w),) Aakheperkare Djehutymose Khamyre Kanekhet Merimaat Khaemneseret Aapehty Neferreneput Sankhibu (Great is the manifestation of the Ka' of Rê, Born of Djehuti, appearing like Rê, Strong bull, beloved of Ma'at, He who appears with the uræus, great of strength, He whose years are beautiful, he who causes hearts to live) of his full regal title, known for achieving the conquest of Nubia and the Levant, hence bringing Egypt to its maximal territorial extent in all of its history. his father a blacksmith, mastering the craft of memorabilia for the ages to come out of noble materials he mastered such as bronze or meteoric iron,During the Bronze Age collapse, Egypt had already mastered meteoric iron, as artifacts such as jewelery or ceremonial weapons were delivered to pharaohs at the time, some date as far back as 3200 BC, or the Protodynastic period. Copper was always very important for chisels, and bronze was an abundant material of choice for weapons, so much so that the whole of Egypt depended from it. but also a kind and loyal servitor of his kin; his mother a weaver, manipulating the fabric of comfort and luxury to create joy amongst her clientele;Weaving is an equally important labour in Ancient Egypt, as far back as the Old Kingdom, people's amenities was a valid concern at that time; clothing also demarcated the lower classes from the upper classes, for example servants could wear nothing, whereas government officials wore some of the most intricate garments whilom the era starting from the Middle Kingdom complexified by even finer and more timesyphoning radiant raiments, reserving the main material of linen for the utmost important habiliments such as pharaoh's, but also mortuary garments, as linen was the piece of choice for embalmments, leaving wool to lower classes and cotton to the working class.Societal classification was logical and straightforward in Ancient Egypt, at the bottom of the hierarchal pyramid are the servants and the slaves—if there were any, slavery in ancient Egypt is a very controversial topic about which there are no solid answers—obviously the Pharaoh and other nobility would occupy the top of the pyramid, closely followed by the scribal class and military, and its heart would be the working class, in waning range of privilege: Merchants, craftsfolk and agriculturists; both of Iosepp's parents being of the same class, their union is realistic, aside from the most important factor of love. a talented musician too, skilled with the ney and kanun, that she brushed of her gentle fingers so softly as her matronage was sweet, thanks to which this family was united for as long as possible. Such has led the childhood and upbringing of this child to come into play once he'd matured. Time came for him to leave and concretize a new life: Hikuptah, capital of the kingdom,Hikuptah (Ḥwt-kȝ-ptḥ, home of the ka of Ptah) or Memphis (Μέμφις) was the capital of the New Kingdom starting from the reign of Merenptah (Mr(y)-n-ptḥ,) Baenre Merynetjeru Merneptah Hotephermaat Kanakht Haiemmaat Iribauertaentjemhu Nebsenedjaashefit (The Soul of Rê, Beloved of the Gods, Beloved of Ptah, Joyous is Truth, Strong bull rejoiced with Ma'at, Who can exerce power upon Libyan land, Master of fear, He whose prestige is great) of his full regal title, known for his ultimately successful military campaign against Libu and Sea peoples, as well as being the thirteen, and primordial surviving son of Ramesses II, Usermaatre Setepenre Ramesses Meriamun Kanakht Merimaat Mekkemetwafkhasut Userrenput Aanehktu (The justice of Rê is powerful, chosen of Rê, Rê has fashioned him, beloved of Amun, Strong bull, beloved of right, truth, Protector of Egypt who curbs foreign lands, Rich in years, great in victories) of his full regal title, known for having commandited the construction of temples around the country, the most famous of which residing in Abu Simbel, but also for being considered the Pharaoh of Exodus, a title sometimes also given to Merneptah. Memphis' time as the capital fell alongside the New Kingdom, leaving Djanet (ḏˁn.t,) or Tanis to become the center of Smendes' Egypt. opened its arms for him, thus he joined it in rejoice, passing from an Egypt to another,Hor-Narmer-Tjai (Ḥr-nˁr-mr-ṯ3j, Fierce catfish of Horus,) last Pharaoh of the Semainean phase of the Naqada culture, is known for having unified both Egypts into one kingdom, thus becoming the first king of the First Dynasty of Egypt. Narmer is also consensually reported to be identified as Menes (Mnj, He who endures,) the lack of archæological evidence suggesting it may be a burial name in the glory of Narmer, (a name also considered to have possibly been associated with Hor-Ka and the King Scorpion) though it is also believed it may have a link with Hor-Aha (Ḥr-ˁḥ3, Horus, the fighter,) successor of Narmer (or Menes?) and known for having consolidated the throne of Egypt, so the remains dilemma between who Narmer, Menes and Hor-Aha are, if they are not the one and same individual. As Iosepp gradually integrates human history himself, going back to things he has not witnessed shows his imperfection, which does not gain any meaning until later on in his story, where he seems to acheive borderline godly feats, these limits allow him to still be human at heart, but to break them with sheer perseverance—that is, it does work as well a an introductive metaphor of the past as one of the future: Him moving up in the world, literally by going north ontowards his destiny, and figuratively by going to the capital of the kingdom, and down in Egypt, literally for Lower Egypt is north of Upper Egypt, and figuratively by, once again, moving ontowards his destiny, which mostly unravels out of Egypt, is a play on the downfall of Egypt, and on the constant pushing of the boundaries; Iosepp's boundaries; humanity's boundaries; what this metaphor does is giving a situation, a context to be exploited and pushed to the extreme and ever further, which also has significant meaning that is to be explored later on in this story. a land of a thousand and one possibilities.This euphemistically antithetic parallelism alludes to a conflation of the Arabian Nights and its semantic influence—In the original work Scheherazade recites stories to the King Shahryar for 1001 nights, until he deems her worthy to live forever with him; Iosepp is an embodiment of these 1001 nights, intricate stories that cross each other's path, an extravagant epic that starts in Memphis, and which will slightly influence the world more and more, as every other person has and will; a song to the world and its inhabitants. Although far more educated than the common folk, he was raised in humility and respect, which made for a certain lack of ambition, hence his settling in the city as a simple farmer, then blacksmith, but he took upon his father's values to make a name for himself in his neighbourhood, and upon his mother's curiosity to soon become proficient in the interests and occupations of his kinfolk; when he wasn't producing and dealing in goods, he then charitably took place as an embalmer,In ancient Egyptian religion, it was believed that the soul, after a series of trials, (defined by the time of the New Kingdom by the Book of the Dead) would return to its body where it may prosper in the afterlife, hence the importance of the preservation of the body through the process of embalming, which required two people for one body, hence mobilizing a work force greater than the one needed at the time bodies were grouped and dumped in a shallow pit. out of both respect for the dead and fascination for the humankind. In deed, he learned much in terms of science by studying closely the bodies of the fallen but equally as much in terms of relationship by working as closely with his colleagues. His most notorious coworker would also be his closest and farthest—unlike names, lives and much else, they would exchange knowledge, experience, feeling. In not knowing much of each other, they still worked as if in symbiosis, as none prevailed between the ideas of the rookie and the technique of the expert; a priest's habitual benediction aside, the embalmers would not know any disruption in their insightful labour and discussion, the latter of which being a very flexible variable, as depending on the fluctuating humours of both partners, one could often find themself to be unrecognizable... But never misunderstood. The apprentice would carefully noteOn pages of a book carefully bound with flax and covered in raw leather using reeds cut in a slanted manner and smoothed out as to not tear the sheepskin parchment as to apply the black ink—The recipe for Ancient Egypt's ink being mostly soot and wax. and apply his colleague's wise words without much attention for any reciprocation, nor for the future, simply perfecting this occupation and interest of his. This seemed to work nicely for the two, until the expert started gradually losing his touch, often engaging in fits of intense pain that would incapacitate him, leaving the apprentice to remain lonely in his practice. One day, he simply collapsed in the middle of the priest's visit, lifeless, leaving the two witnesses in shock, confused as to what to may happen in the face of this event. It didn't take long after the priest's departure for him to decide it was time to embalm his colleague. Later—upon removing the left kidney, he would find small, gravelly, sand-coloured rock-like objects inside of it, which he thought could have been the cause of his coworker's pain;And that would be right, as these are urinal calculi (of which the culprit is urolithiasis) which cause, among restlessness, hematuria and nausea, tremendous pain throughout the urinary tract, from the renal arteries and veins to the glans (glans penis for men and glans clitoris for women,) this pain is also known as a renal colic. inspiring his curiosity, he spent some time examining it. In his precipitation and carelessness the stone fell in the jar where used water is stored, prompting that he recovers it at the bottom.Whewellite, the constituent of most renal agregations, is denser than water; hence, sinks. Upon extracting the unscathed material out of the jar, he stands back up to see his fully awakened colleague, looking at him straight in the eye, but soon after fainting out of the utter shock of seeing oneself be embalmed, which left some time for his cut to be carefully closed and his kidney to be dried and jarred for him to take after waking up.It is possible that his colleague fell out of conciousness due to intense pain and that this was interpreted as a sudden death; there have notably been a few cases of people waking up in the middle of their embalming session—here no harm has been done yet, a human can effectively live the rest of their days with only one kidney. He would not stick around long enough to see that; he had been called upon by higher officials to focus on his smithing activities in support of regal troops as the unrest in Canaan was looking to become a problem in the near future, which it very soon did;As part of the Late Bronze Age collapse, a very (un)peaceful transition in human history that led to the collective fall of all major Eastern Mediterranean forces, from the Hittites to the Mycenæan Greeks to the Egyptians, being the last of the bunch, for the time only losing Canaan to the Sea Peoples, somewhere around the battles of the Nile Delta and of Djahy. convoys from the capital to Syria arrived hastily and went as fast as they had comen, a constant traffic of men and weapons, barging in and out of every corner of Egypt and his own workship incessantly... Until it did stop. He had kept forging, but no one came. Seeking to accomodate his fellows out of solidarity, he simply decided to traverse the Nile and deliver the cargo by himself, using a spear as a solar dial to guide himself whilst attaching a rope to his shoulders in order to drag it all efficiently.A technique that would be famously known as the burlaki's, boatmen hauling barges on the Volga from the Russian Empire during the 16th to 20th centuries, though burlaki, even though mostly landless peasants, would be part of hierarchized groups in order to drag rather immense barges, whereas Iosepp's case is individual and much humbler in size. In order to reduce the amount of effort put into hauling the cargo it was charged on a small boat of his confection to run along the Nile, with enough space left for a few provisions. At night, being still attached to his cargo, it would drag him and itself along its path for a few. Within three days of following the Nile northwards, stricken with heat and dehydratation, he arrived on a scene of merciless violence that took him aback, a shocking spectacle of sorts: two parties of human beings similar in shape and mind fighting the other with no pity, belligerently spilling blood in an unreasonably brutal fashion, only serving the escalation of tension. It truly seemed surreal from afar, but as he got closer to the scene with a rather morbid curiosity, the snapback into reality was instantaneous as both parties raced towards the weapons—''his'' weapons—even with a palpable fatigue, he took up arms to defend almost instinctively his cargo and affiliates, efficiently using one of his own manufactures to divide and slash through the opposing flock. Although after his own had reapprovisionned, he was left behind to helplessly defend the rest of his convoy from a small contingent as all were trying to regain their formation, until he was finally pushed into the river, striking into his cargo and effectively leaving it to pour the remaining weapons and their fainting smith into the Mediterranean sea,This is a quite heavy metaphor for the ever-worsening destruction of our world and our ease to fuel such an omnipresent doom, both in the immediate present—represented by the bronze in the khopeshes which symbolizes the collapse of the Bronze Age and its impact on other entities—and the future, represented by, well, the flow of the weapons from the waters of the Nile to the larger Mediterranean, for literally anyone to pick them, of which the pollution is significative of the uselessness of the incessant manufacture of death in an already war-torn society, but that also has a deeper message: The khopeshes also look much like fishing hooks, which are part of a system of destruction of our environment because of our mindset of immediate remedy instead of reflected collective solution (which would be more adapted to our society but as a species we are not really programmed to grasp that from birth,) one that has a similar impact to wars' yet that is so much closer to our human nature, it's not supposed to be an advocacy of ecological moralism but rather than destruction in all of its forms, and ultimately that of ourselves, is part of our nature and that we must either combat it wholly and collaboratively... Or embrace our hard-coded warmongerism and self-destructive quest for prosperity. where he saved the last bits of his remaining conciousness to regain his boat, crossing into Yam'sYam is the Canaanite deification of the Levantine sea, it being used with another offense, invasion-related metaphor to cloture the first, tranquiler chapter of Iosepp's life with an entry into the matter of the wild ride of his time. territory, before falling asleep to the wind's gentle cradling.After this unintentional betrayal from his people, his most important confrontation with his own thoughts, his solitude yet, to which he is so unaccustomed, a sentiment so unfamiliar, he finds peace and company in the most simple things in his existence... The waves, the air, silence. As the torment gnawing his mind increases over time, Iosepp's appreciation for the least significant things that life offer does so as well. אֲדוֹנִי נָתַן He was very soon awoken by the abrupt deceleration of his boat, outside of which he curiously drove his hand, just to find out it was not through water that he treaded, but sand. Upon leaving the shore, not without longing for more rest among the crabs,More precisely tufted ghost crabs, or ocypode cursor, most generally found on beaches of the Levantine coast, feasting upon sea turtle eggs, so naturally they would amass around the shoreside boat but some might've also been picked up by the speeding transport. he did not find the strength to drag his ship across, so, in peacefully leaving his animal companions to their diurnal siesta, he left it there by the sea that had surprisingly took good care of it for the time being.Hereby reinforcing the idea of a personnified sea, a metaphor for Iosepp's complicity with nature, another force both flexible and immutable, much like him—quite also another side of his appreciation of his surroundings. Stumbling and bumbling his way eastwards, he would encounter familiar fauna, landscapes, flora, as if he had never left home to begin with, yet it still felt so very far away. Unable to think any straight and pulled down by the pressing weight of slumber, exhaustion, and dehydratation, he decided to lay down and take resource in the surrounding calm. The entropy did not cease for long as, in what felt like the millionth of a second, his mind was startled as he felt a shadow set over him, blocking the Sun over yonder. He looked for the discrepancy, only to catch sight of a woman in the blinding light, studying him with the uncautious yet penetrating gaze of her shining hazel eyes, highlighted alongside the rest of her face as his own were accomodating to this sudden stimulation, to his senses a loving caress similar to the few beams of sunshine flowing through her river of hair, of a red fiercer than all the legions of all the nations in the world.It is a glorified reference to the Book of Revelation—which bears its name quite well given the importance of the character we're addressing: Here, the point is not to call Orpah a harlot, for that's not very polite to say to one's future wife, it is to show the focus in a different light; where the harlot sits, rests in humiliation, Orpah stands up, and she sees Iosepp before he sees her, she's the one looking at him, lying on the ground, she is not so dependent or even weak, she's supposedly “uncautious” but her stare alone disarms him, and her face literally and figuratively steals the spotlight from Iosepp in his own story, from the get-go she sets herself as the authority in his life that she will soon more directly become. This reference in itself not only sets the basis for Iosepp's whole story, it also foreshadows its own consequences. As for the specific mention of the colour red, it's not an arbitrary choice set to mirror her hair solely, or even the furiousness and combativity of the aforementioned legions, but the blood spilt in their quest to either protect or acquire something valuable enough for it to be spilt to begin with, an unconditional devotion to the subject of their desire, much like the one he would showcase later on. Interestingly enough, it's also the principal colour of the Roman Empire, which he will see rise and fall during his lifetime. The real, less pictural world came back to life as it seemed she was making an inquiry, but he could not understand. In answering her, he was interrupted when she kept repeating the same word: “Jw-swf, Jw-swf!” Jw-swf...Jw-swf would be the Egyptian transliteration of what we'd write “Yew-soof,” essentially a variant of the name Joseph, this is the first instance of him being named, and called, yet not the first appearance of such a name, since, another variant would be the name of the boat that would pretty much kickstart his story. For reasons unknown it felt oddly familiar, but he was not sure—not that it mattered much... Was she calling him? Anyway he did not know how to answer; nothing came out of his mouth. In fact, he was rather unresponsive. She then proceeded to try to drag him: now, it was clear that she wanted him to follow her. So he stood up, and let himself be guided towards civilization as her hand rested upon his arm, and slid over his wrist into his own, as if it melted into his palm. He held on to her as they were zooming through the maze of limestone and sand that was the city she brang him onto,And that would be Ashdod, a Philistine city, hence, the newly created territory of the Sea Peoples he himself fought the day before. At this point, he is still unaware of that and is quite oblivious to the fact that this is the turf of his former adversaries. and let go only when they stopped their course and entered one of the structures. It was an habitation, a modest one at that, rich not by its expensive furniture and somptuous decorations, but by the memories, the stories told by the lovingly-placed effects; it was an abode he felt comfortable in, having barely even entered. Though their sojourn would not last much—after a brief discussion between the woman and an elderly man, seemingly some sort of guardian of hers,Who is in reality more of a cautious associate; as she does need some to keep up with the activity in her area of operations. whose look seemed to be glossing over wounds of his he had not been aware of himself, he was invited to stay for the night, and at the crack of dawn, upon leaving the domicile, found her nurturing an ibex,More precisely a Nubian ibex, or capra nubiana, wild desert-dwelling goats known for traversing very large distances, quite similarly to Iosepp, especially later on in his story; they are not unknown to him as they can reach as far as the Maghreb and Arabian peninsula. with various commodities set upon it. Thus, they departed eastwards, and walked without end, it seemed, not that it was unfamiliar to him, though here, being constrained to silence suddenly felt much more debilitating, so he thought about the conversation he had witnessed the day prior, the manneurisms, the tone, the delivery, everything that could help understand at least the basics of what she might have said, anything that could help him communicate. An acknowledgement, a greeting, many questions... About him, mostly. Oh, it had struck him: a greeting. “Šɜ-lamˁ,”Another Egyptianized transliteration of the Semitic root šalām-, as it predates the Aramaic language by two hundred years—though Oprah being originary from Jerusalem, it is most likely that Hebrew is her language, though it is unsure exactly what language she might be using to talk with Philistines, who have their own, probably unrelated yet completely unknown language. This is one of this story's historical unsolved mysteries. he utters, “šɜ-lamˁ,” it rings in the wind. She turns around, radiating with surprise and gladness at this first audible word of his. With a smile on her face, she returns the greeting, before concatenating a question, which oddly enough sounded like what he had heard the night before, a farewell—he guessed she was asking about his night, to which he answered positively, yet clumsily. She seemed to understand though, for she was patient in listening, and careful in speaking. Along their path, he found a strange, large-leaved plant on which were set equally-large green fruits; tempted by this discovery, he approached it and snatched one of them. It seemed ripe, but the flesh of the apple was swollen and small pale spots were all over it; in applying slight pressure to one of the bumps, a viscuous sap oozed from it and started dripping: This was most probably unsafe to eatThis description fits the apples of Sodom, or calotropis procera, plants which fruits are hollow, though their flesh produce a toxic sap which is unfit for consumption. They take their name from Yosef ben Matityahu's (יוסף הכהן בן מתתיהו‎) account in 75 AD, in reference to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the fate of Lot's wife: —it's unnecessary to run the risk either, as they had far enough provisions already. Upon setting camp, they tried conversing, aiding each other in understanding one another by drawing various shapes on the ground and using some form of body language. “Jw-swf,” that was how she called him, it still resonated as familiar but he wasn't exactly sure why she called him that. Her name was “Arȝˁ-pʰa,”Phonetic transliteration of the name Orpah, or more precisely ‘Ārəpāh (עָרְפָּה‎‎) which comes from the root עֹ֫רֶף, meaning “back of the neck,” a word that will come back later on in the relationship between her and Iosepp. one that sounded natural, and graceful to him—she was also almost as aged as him, and had known a most similar upbringing; despite her young age and unwary appearance, she was a merchant, moving throughout the Philistine pentapolis to sell and retrieve various goods that she would mount on her ibex to travel across, indeed a life of travels and discovery, one quite different from his. All in all, this exchange brought them closer in the hopes that some day, they might finally know no bounds in their communication, but in the meantime, they had to rest in order to depart soon enough to reach their destination at the most optimal time. Later, they would finally enter their destination town, which most definitely felt strange, especially when put against the familiarity of the former city... It seemed as though people and goods flowed in large quantities and directions in a town too small to contain them all—that explained the amount of provisions she was dragging around: it was meant for other people's consumption - or was it? In fact, she was trading her foodstuffs around for items that had a higher value. He stuck with her for the day, learning from it, a day filled with the collection of various amenities, all-the-odder, and “Arȝˁ-pʰa's” verbose chants. And when night came, he piously ate and drank of the knowledge she could share, before carefully extracting, from his own mouth, the ideas that she had inserted in it. Over the course of nine days, he started taking his eases with this new life: with the tools and methods of the trade, he was slowly, but steadily forging his own comfort in this new environment—the peoples, the languages, the customs, they grew significantly more understandable, if not charming in some way, even though they seemed so weirdly familiar. Though, the most insightful of moments weren't exactly the days, but the nights; moments they would be sharing with only one thing to do, to try. Talking to each other was already an effort in itself, but it was worth it. And so, each night became a ritual: He would set sand in a small bowl,In case it's not obvious, the point of that bowl of sand is for the two of them—mostly Orpah—to draw figures in it so they can understand one another with more ease—by that time he would start to be a little more accustomed to hearing her which certainly helps but that would still be a necessary tool. As a reference, here is an intact example of a late Bronze Age bowl in Ancient Canaan as to give you a little bit more of an idea what to imagine; it's also because it ties in to her own story in some way but that is for another time. light a lampThroughout the Middle East at the time, lamps were overwhelmingly—not to say only—ceramics that used olive oil, and, in the case of Canaanite lamps, they used jute wicks to light them. At the end of this page, you'll find a comparison between an original and a reproduction, another interesting historical fact is that these lamps have been there and seen little to no change through the early Bronze Age up to the Roman Empire. near it and place them so as to become the centerpiece of the living room, inviting her to have a discussion, to hopefully learn or teach something new from and to the other—and every night, this is exactly what happened. As they went, the conversations lengthened, and it was getting subsequently harder to end them as they delved deeper into the night and deeper into their minds, but, by the time they were over, it was quite mandatory, for at the issue of these days, work became more strenuous and she could clearly not, for her own sake, afford as much time, which incentivized him to make a supplementary effort in virtue of what he was taught to help her trade: for example by leasing her what he had himself produced, creating objects of higher value with the resources she brang him, or ingenuously figuring out tools and methods to organize a more effective production, allowing her to trade more luxurious goods and make more profitable exchanges. While it did allow her to stay longer, as demand for her produce was prosperous enough, she was soon met with more important offers that prompted her to make longer travels more often, unfortunately reverting previous expectations. Three, seven, ten days, the trips were usually quite long. This left time for a new sentiment to ripen... He was starting to miss learning, from their conversations, from her—very soon settled a lasting longing to meet her again, when she would come back. “Back in 'Bꜣt-Lˁḥm',”Bethlehem is a city south of Jerusalem located in modern-day wikipedia:Palestine, more specifically the West Bank, and was quite an important economical post of the New Kingdom of Egypt before falling under constant harassment by nomadic mercenaries of the Habiru peoples near 1400 BC, as reported in a correspondance between Canaanite and Amorite diplomats and the central government of the Egyptian empire later known as the Amarna letters. At this moment in Iosepp's history, the kingdom of Amurru had been destroyed by the Sea Peoples, who had also retaken the rest of Syria—again the region, not the country—and Bethlehem, as part of the Tribe of Benjamin, was constantly harassed. she said; he knew that name... Yes. He did. That was a city in Syria, the region that had been lost to the sea peoples of Canaan, whom he had been warned against and even faced off. Realizing he was in an unfriendly territory, YusufIt is normal for the names to be spelled more understandably in this paragraph, at this point it's been established that Iosepp has grown more accustomed with his surroundings, and that, as such he can form words in a way that's closer to the verbosity of Orpah. persisted in his actions, but not without feeling a certain spike of concern in his heart. One that would be mended whichever nights saw the return of Orp-ha, her presence felt even more agreable after all this time drowning among the mass, or as she would say herself, “the lowest of people for the lowest of cities.”In reference to the other tribes of Israel's regard towards the tribe of Benjamin after the battle of Gibeah, which supposedly took place somewhere inbetween 1200 and 1000 BC—Iosepp is right in the middle of it—when a Levite offered his concubine in his place to an angry Benjamite mob which proceeded to rape her and leave her for dead on the doorstep of the Levite, who allegedly sent a piece of her body to every sovereign tribe of Israel, wreaking a ruckus for justice, which ended in the quasi-extermination of the Benjamites and the massacre of Jabesh-Gilead, except for a couple hundred virgin women. The aftermath of this battle was the ostracism of the Tribe of Benjamin and its inhabitants by the rest of Ancient Israel and a constant resent for them. The Book of Judges serves as good reference for that, most notably chapters 20 and 21. The meaning Orpah gives it is different though—she says it with compassion for the people, victims of their own situation, but as a Benjamite herself, she has been through it and suffered to have enough bitterness to not put it mildly, and to shake the foundations of that society with brutal honesty; Iosepp's interpretation, his translation of the vocables themselves is certainly not perfect, but they ring with a sentiment truest to him, as it is exactly the one that brought him here in the first place. He had gotten better at understanding her, after all it had been a little over two months already, yet they felt like an eternity due to the constant bore and exhaustion. Unfortunately that was about to last a little longer, for after that night she would be gone for another forty days this time—a thought that seemed to haunt them both in their sleep. The following morning, before waving each other goodbye, he was naturally driven to give her a warm embrace as to wish her well on her way, holding her hand tightly—he looked unsure whether or not to let it go, but eventually she was gone in the following minutes. So he went back to work, but his mind was occupied, busy processing what had happened over these months, it was quite unlike anything he had seen or experienced before, and he wasn't sure how to interpret that. Every day, the heat of the forge would remind him of the warmness of her embrace, the hammer melting in his hand like another hand before it, the chatter of the people would remind him of the song of her trade and the hypnotizing light of the sun would remind him of the burning oil lamp that illuminated his nights as it shone over her hands as they were flowing through the sand, drawing shapes, and spelling out ideas. He thought extensively about how it felt, how it was—in one word—lovely.wink wonk That was the right word to describe it: it in fact aligned perfectly with the whole situation, as much as he did not necessarily want to hear it or to believe it... He had to tell her. Now, one couldn't just come up to her and confess all of these thoughts, that would be uncalled for—he wouldn't even know where to look for her—and who knows? Maybe it is rude, perhaps too bold, why not even scary? As a matter of fact, it could very well be a mistake. Oh well. Yusuf then sought in his most loving memories the answers he needed, reminding himself of the person who had loved him most: his mother. The tingling and crashing of metal against metal amidst his innocent daydreams, led him to find a way, an inspiration of sorts. For a time, he revived the artistic spirit of his genitrix by tuning her memorable singing to his own abilities, thence accompanying his wait with long recollections of sweetness. Very soon, these would come to be problematic. Although his music attracted jolly attention around him—and it would soon become ritual for the neighbouring populace to hear it all the way from his residence to his workplaceThis is a brief hommage to an important personality in my hometown of the Nissart country who would sing in a very carefree manner throughout the village for decades, and be present at every possible regroupment of the population to animate it, that is, until his passing in January of the year 2018.—it gave away his fluency in the Egyptian tongue to some of the more reactionary personalities in the region. Thankfully, it seemed Orp-ha was back already. Well, Yusuf wouldn't notice that at first, still busy with his routine, but he was soon overtaken with joyful surprise as he felt her hand against his shoulder again. In the moment, he forgot all he thought and worried about. As he turned around though, he was stricken with worry again, although a different kind: as he looked past her, horsebound harassers were incoming, as to prosecute their persecution against the Benjamites. It was kind of usual at some point, but this time he felt targeted. He was targeted. His Egyptianness unveiled to their eyes, he was not welcome among the people of Israel, but more dreadful even, they considered Orp-ha to be plain complicit of a supposed machination, to be “in bed with the demon.” So without any more ado,This word choice isn't coincidental, it does happen to be a reference to one of Jean de la Fontaine's Fables: The Wolf and The Lamb, which depicts the same persecution that Iosepp and Orpah are facing, being the lambs to the wolves that are their attackers. The morality of La Fontaine's story, in other words, is that any excuse will serve a tyrant. An important detail to take into account is that the sentence comes from an English translation by Roger L'Estrange, but the morality comes from another one by Joseph Jacobs. In L'Estrange's version, it goes as follows: 'Tis an easy matter to find a staff to beat a dog. Innocence is no protection against the arbitrary cruelty of a tyrannical power; but reason and conscience are yet so sacred, that the greatest villanies are still countenanced under that cloke and colour. the two were abducted and taken away to the edge of the Judean land.The Judean land, or the Tribe of Judah, one of the confederated tribes of Israel, later to become one of its dual kingdoms but also bearing the name of an infamous Biblical character, Judah of Kerioth (יהודה איש־קריות, Yehûdâh Îš-Qrîyôt) more commonly known is Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' apostles and ultimately his betrayer. Concatening that with drowning being a common pre-Biblical punishment for alleged witchcraft, what better place than the mouth of the River Jordan—the Dead Sea—where Jesus was baptized, to make Iosepp a victim of his own injustice within the territory of another Judah? Yusuf was stripped from his untold love as to be taken to the nearest waters. Clearly, that wasn't the coast, but those waters were unlike any river or lake, and he would discover that the hard way, as his head was forcefully driven into them, burning his eyes and inflicting great pain upon the tortured's scarred face. Thus, the shock, the tremor, the apprehension of losing everything shifted away from his attention, as his mind becaming obnubilated with the thought of the torments on his pained body being then committed upon Orp-ha. Recklessly seeking to put an end to this whole situation before the unforgivable could happen, Yusuf then latched on to the nearest individual to choke him in those here waters in a literal blind rage, prompting his other executioner to try and break up that fight. A terrible idea, for Yusuf automatically bit whatever came closest to him in his blindness, which happened to be the sob's fingers; his screams giving away his exact position, giving Yusuf an opportunity to take his hands away from his unconscious assailant to the next one's head, pressing his fingers into his eyes as hard as he could while Orp-ha seemingly seized a similar chance to fight off their leader. Though that would not last for long as another contingent of horsemen would plow through the scene, smacking her with great force and charging into the remaining struggle, the sheer force of impact dislocating Yusuf's shoulder and claiming the life of their already quite maimed comrade. Waking up wasn't pleasant. Not at all in fact: his body was being hurtfully dragged in the sand by the latest horse in the squadron, and upon its back was laid a loosely closed bag containing some of the cohabitants' valuables. Thankfully, Yusuf was able to gather enough force to catch some of the following objects so they could be thrown at the horseman. Out of the bag also came his prized khopesh, which he promptly used to cut the rope binding his feet to the now-uncontrollable horse. Orp-ha, seeing once again an opening in their formation, took a dagger from her captor and punctured a hole through which she ripped into the barrel of the head horse, who came crashing down, taking the latest horse in his fall while the second one managed to evade it. The situation was confusing and stressful but Yusuf knew this, he had to lay it all down first before doing anything: two horses down and one dead. Two horsemen, one badly injured, and... The final horse coming back? That was another charge, but his experience of Egyptian warfare was a net advantage: he locked his weapon onto the horse's pastern, effectively severing its footing and causing yet another fall and grave injury for the delinquent mounting the animal. Seeing them incapable to fight, he turned to Orp-ha, who had taken her dagger to their leader's throat. The fight was over but, rushing on towards each other, the two could not help but expunge their pain in tears, holding one another tight as they had comen so close to never being able to again. He had never been much of a warrior in the first place, but all of this blood... That was the first time for her, her first experience even hurting another being. This selflessness in putting herself in danger and going against her fundamental nature out of solidarity only consolidated the respect he had for her. He was sad in having even the smallest part in this emotionally distressful happening for her, but also immensely proud of what she accomplished. He felt not like looking for words in the face of what had just transpired, although instinctively the feelings he felt for her came out of his mouth anyway. It's never that bad once it's out. It's never bad at all when the other feels the same. Rather than to think about the consequences so soon, they spent the night in the desert, with the few amenities left to them, and for the first in a long time, together. Characteristics Physical Appearance Arguably the first thing to note about Iosepp is his size;Which, throughout his life characterizes his relation with humanity, his faint humanitarianism: Among his own people, in Egypt, his size is monstruous, mythical, he seems a legend among man that no one really approaches—aside from merchandise deals, very few get to stick around him for any time, but progressively, as humanity evolves, both physically and mentally, he becomes more normal, seemingly integrated to society (which he is really very far from but that is another story) but the fat of the allegory really comes from the physical portion, as his brethren-in-life arises to his level, hence becoming the myth he represented to his cocitizens in the older times. Unfortunately he dies before truly witnessing the point where every man stands relatively as tell as him, but in death, he ends up seeing them as everyone else saw him before... Looking up, in one way, or another. indeed, in spite of his weak structure and slender form, his tallness and straight posture can be enough to turn many away from his equally uncomforting face of which the mildly dark colour contours the rugged surface upon which are placed remarkable features, such as a high-bridged curvaceous yet strong nose connecting with deep almond brown eyes of which the faint gaze conveys myths of its own when not described and counted with his large mouth through which echoed screams of pain and through which were heeded creeds, deeds, and myriads of warnings as numerous and olden as the arm-long hair swaying all the way to his chest, where it meets with his equally voluminous beard. Even though not especially beefy, Iosepp does have a rather wide thorax and shoulders upon which rest long arms with especially notable veins and discoloured spots,The reason why the venal system may be particularly visible on the arms is a notable lack of body fat, which can mostly stem from dietary factors and physical exercise; whereas discoloured spots may be cutaneous eruptions caused by the fungus Malassezia globosa, and in certain cases, including this one, Malassezia furfur (fungi normally found on almost every single human's skin) when the perfect conditions to its development are met, this yeast being lightly pathogenic. This peculiar condition is known as dermatomycosis furfuracea. punctuated with hands scraped and damaged by their usage, and equally discoloured fingertips and short nails, much unlike his legs, tried and fined by walking over distances of Biblical proportion. His vestimentary customs are, comparatively, timely: he adapts to the technology of the epoch without really following any trends other than his own traditional choice—his clothing is generally very rudimentary apart from unique pieces and memorabilia that hold significant importance or that convey a specific idea, thus developing his own idiomatic subculture rather than agregating others together. Personality Iosepp is an innate strategist: his calm nature as always helped him keep composure and stay relaxed, often keeping his true feelings within—his strong neuroticism make him a very apt and intellectual listener, confident and speaker, but also a meticulous planner, diplomat and even manipulator. Throughout his life though, he has rather left his mental potential aside, focusing on a more modest lifestyle, a humble way of thinking, sometimes dreading that his intellect would ostracize him from his own surroundings and make him more of a villain than much else.In the words of Herbert Macruse in his One-Dimensional Man: “Thus emerges a pattern of one-dimensional thought and behavior in which ideas, aspirations, and objectives that, by their content, transcend the established universe of discourse and action are either repelled or reduced to terms of this universe. They are redefined by the rationality of the given system and of its quantitative extension.” In essence, a quite evident and transcendental critique of the way we write fiction, the way we express ourselves, our politics, our ethics, the way we live, and, in fact, the perceived reason of our own existences—in Iosepp's case it's a constant vicious circle of awareness on the coercion of being itself. This hidden potential and villany of his turned sour with reject, trial, characteristics that have only increased ever since his loss of mortality, making him repressively calculating, cruel, and domineering—features of which he is aware and conciously fights back, though making other uses out of it, such as protectiveness, neutrality and prevoiance. His self-consciousness, driven by a thirst of knowledge and achievement, is not only his greatest asset but also his most terrible companion: indeed in being aware of even his most hidden traits, he developed a growing psychoticism, an interior enemy that needed to be contained as effortfully as possible, relegating its intrusiveness to only his psyche rather than his actual course of actions. In rejecting his own nature, Iosepp fed an extraverted facade of sympathy and comprehensiveness which allowed him to integrate himself into the ever-changing society even given his already quite extraordinary self. Interiorizing his deepmost character made him feel quite oblivious though, oblivious to much of what makes humanity; indeed even being plagued by a low self-esteem and a socially perfectionist drive, he values faults and imperfection as utmost important defining traits of the living being, hence voluntarily disinhibiting some of his impulses and submitting to a more akratic behaviour. A great loss of this constant internal struggle is his sentiments, succumbing to alexithymia, a sort of immutability, of stoicism of the mind, rendering him impermeable to much moodiness. Later on in his life, it provoked a very prominent and overwhelming desire of a higher-order, the need for volition, the appetite for the expression of primal feelings of envy, anger, love, among others, one that has rapidly gnawed at the back of one's mind enough to induce the sharing of this primal instinct with his repressed “evilness”—condemning Iosepp to seek in relationships only the most emotionally, socially and intellectually resilient of colleagues, friends, and lovers, the stronger the relationship, the more resistant one had to be to the pain he knew he could and most certainly would inflict upon them. This leads to the growth of his longing for freedom, pushing all limits as to make even the most irrational of choices just for the sake of being free to do so. This impredictability and inlaid madness of his make for him to be perceived in a myriad of different ways ranging from fear to admiration, though they are rooted in more than meets the eye, namely, a moral dilemma, for his need to be free impedes on his interaction with society, and, being aware that he can never be fully responsible of himself as long as there is an interaction to be conducted, he chose to violate his own liberty for the sake of others. Indeed, he needs to care about other people in order to control himself, as not to unleash his long-neglected demons upon a world he knows hostile to them. For when he does indeed, no man would ever be able to even hope to contain them with as much success as he used to, and no man could endure such a sudden burst of such bitter rawness, not even Iosepp himself, in fact. All in all, none of that mattered anyway, for his eternity doom him to forever know nothing but loss. The loss of company, the loss of friendship, the loss of growing old with someone, that would be the main constituent of his life, and he's aware of that, which pushes even further his lack of care for sophistication, hence his often impolite, sometimes so-called disrespectful attitude. He has all the time in the universe and the next to build strong relations, and others don't—those are only formalities, and are effectively useless. All that lasts throughout his life are objects, memorabilia of a begone time that he cherishes as it reminds him of moments he had had already given much importance to. Romance Religion Paraphernalia Powers Immortality The most sacred gift and curse of the Holy Grail, eternal life; which guarantees that any of its beneficiaries won't die in their bed, it greatly impacts Iosepp's personality as he is now bound to experience everyone he will ever know begone and everything that he will ever live will keep repeating until the end of time, but he can be freed of it by dying of an unnatural death or by having someone take it from him by drinking from the chalice instead. Self-Sustenance From the Holy Grail's ability stems a completion of one's physiological needs, in other words, none may then need to ever eat, drink, sleep or breath again whilst under the effect of the cup's essence, nevertheless they may do so, but there would be no rhyme or reason to it. Since the Grail's water essentially takes on the role of blood, a beneficiary of it could virtually be bled dry and theoretically live, though organs, nerves and muscles would still be as fragile as a regular person's. Disease Immunity By definition, the Grail thus allows for one's immune system to be strong enough to be free of any diseases—there are no known limits to the extent of this immunity, but it has no effect on poisons or toxins. Alternate Form The aforementioned abilities make for a superhuman level of concentration, which, over centuries of meditation, left Iosepp lost in his own mind, where he has personnificated his own soul, filled with the remorse, the suffering, the anger of his tortured existence, that feeds off all memories, happenings and possibilities of torment from his psyche. To refrain it from suddenly bursting and assuming control over him, Iosepp must relax, meditate, or, sometimes, collaborate with it. It may appear as an intangible, black, humanoid smoke and only in rapid successions, it is not a separate being but an extension of Iosepp himself, it may also trick opponents into seeing Iosepp where he is not. It may also briefly manifest physical activity such as attacks or mecanical movements, hereby delivering consequent force itself. Super Reflexes The extended awareness of his environment permits for an almost precognitive reaction to his surroundings—a pedestrian's steps, a driver's blinks, an enemy's blows, these and much more may be perceived almost instantly and procurate a deeper insight on the outcome of what may happen next - only through deduction. Empowerment Through meditation or trial, Iosepp may embrace and channel a number of fluctuating feelings in order to bestow more power unto himself. It allows him to overcome himself constantly; the energies that define him are the following: Patience Concentration being the main pillar here, time must not be a concern, in order to focus only on what matters, this also make his trials more spiritual than physical or psychological—it can render him notably weak if confusion steeps in or if he becomes disinterested in his current action, this is why even with his supernatural capacities, he can be outmatched. Anger The most primitive and overwhelming sentiment that's taken place over the years, that he uses to feed his unsatiable alter ego, whom he may come to arms with to unleash a rarely-seen wrath, and an extremely dangerous one at that, for when he is wroth, there is no friend or fiend, but only underbringing or demise: hence, the best way to evade his ire is to stop fighting and hope not to meet with a painful doom. Combat An experience, a trial on all scales, a perfect manifestation of all that really constitutes Iosepp, whose chivalrous attitude brings him to it more than often; it pushes him to a state of trance that allows for the spiritual process to take place much faster, but the polyvalence of this ordeal makes it so that learning is hard and mistakes are hardly ever permitted, making it all the harder to evolve from. Age Throughout the years, as he acknowledges his power, his self-comprehension increases, allowing him to reconcile slightly more with his psyche, and providing less of an inner turmoil to take up his focus. Regeneration The continuously flowing water of the Holy Grail in his body helps him recover from most wounds, though he may not regain a lost limb or survive a wound that is too grave, his healing factor is slightly enhanced but it is not derisory either. Geriatric Perfection The blessing of the Holy Grail and constant training allow for Iosepp to not be affected by his own age, and to not be damaged in any way by the passing of time, which pauses his aging where he drank from the cup. Abilities Enhanced Durability Iosepp fought for almost as long as he exists, and given his aforementioned powers, it is only logical that his training and experience allow for a much higher resistance to any obstacle. Climatic Adaptation From the deceitfully hot and dry weather of the Sahara to the cripplingly cold and harsh winters of Siberia, Iosepp has seen it all and is capable of handling such climates. Though, if placed underwater or out of the atmosphere, he will probably die (because of the pressure, or lack thereof;) for he is not impermeable to all environmental risk—likewise, the Grail's water can freeze and boil at certain extreme temperatures, though by that time his organs will most probably have failed anyway. Investigation Iosepp's always had the reputation to be silent and observant, and it's no lie—he is capable of examining his surroundings like very few others can, but his major flaw is that he collects a lot of crime evidence, which can greatly obstruct connex legal affairs for he generally takes the most interesting pieces of evidences as tokens of oddity and/or for further investigation. Tracking His experience also makes him able to track any person or beast without the use of forensics, just by using deduction and previously found evidence, though he does know when to make usage of forensic and informatic knowledge when needed as well. Intimidation His important stature by itself plays a lot in the art of intimidation, but over the years, Iosepp has amassed some of the widest understanding of humanity in its own history, meaning he can rather tactfully manage his assets to engage in psychological warfare against anyone who bars his road—some of which include the ambient environment, traps, carefully-measured lighting, invasion of living space and his spiritual manifestation. Meditation Iosepp is also capable of concentrating to achieve a state of trance; meditation takes a long time to master, but having all the time in the world and the next at his disposal, that is not a problem. It allowed him to embrace every single one of his powers and abilities and increase his capacity in all fields. Tactical Analysis As such, he is able to enter a state of fast critical thinking in order to examinate any type of situation, threatening or not, it notably allows him to predict a next move or to use his environment at will, it essentially renders his adversaries' combat speed either void or vital. Gymnastics Speedy maneuvers being within his range, as even though his stature could persuade otherwise, his flexibility is quite an important parameter, allowing him to conquer most obstacles and move more freely—and unlike most free runners, his knowledge of the actual terrain and obstacles comes into place, giving him a notable advantage even against a better trained opponent. Fighting Iosepp is a very proficient martial artist, capable of fighting in a wide array of situations; resourceful and cunning, he knows where and how to swiftly shift the odds in his favour—even though his maneuvers are mostly spontaneous, he has synthesized his own proper fighting style, named “Dòuken,” to serve as a firm basis for regular encounters, it is divided in multiple forms. Jan Jan is a form focused on hand-to-hand melee, timed delivery and distance—it's most conventional yet as is is rather efficient and hard to counter due to its comprising of numerous feints (cancel, tinnitu, blink, shift) and switching maneuvers, passing from one mode to another. The modes are as follow: *Ji Influenced by and similar to Savate, Taekkyon, Chángquán, Bāfǎquán, 52 Blocks, Hēihǔquán and Systema. Ji is generally the starting mode; it is mostly defensive and engages in all three distances (closed, mid, open) though which it rapidly switches using swift slides and switches through different modes for a brief amount of time or stances, some of which are very modulable and work in conjunction with setups for techniques based on dissuading the offender through abrupt attacks on pressure points and weak body parts in order to destabilize the enemy and inflict them with a moderate amount of pain. Its most notable characteristic is immutability: essentially, when a technique or a combo is executed, the body stays fixed in the end position in wait of receiving the next blow in order to intercept it and unmatch enemy expectations. *Shuan Influenced by and similar to Muay Thai, Boxing, Chitō-ryū, Yǒngchūn, Kajukenbo, Duǎnquán and Tiěshān. Shuan is another mode generally used when starting, that is, given the right circumstances; most of the time it is set into motion through a switch from Ji, it serves as a more violent and straightforward alternative used to either dissuade or subdue fully the enemy, this is the ataractic method. It is only used at mid and closed distance; though the goal of mid techniques are to restrain the distance as much as possible, through setup strikes, stances or parries in order to achieve the creation of an open cavity in enemy defense, which means to break it in such a way as to be able to rush freely and land as many strikes as possible, and induce maximum pain. Its most notable characteristics are echo and rhythm: essentially, echo is the idea of making the most noise as possible, making the hits sound very blunt and focusing on making the adversary scream, in order to possibly drive away any other offenders tempted to take part in the conflict—which can work conjointly with rhythm, which is quite strictly the usage of rhythmic sequences in the fight, notably to deceive the enemy by feinting (shift, blink) or to enlarge the psychologic power of echo. *Liu Influenced by and similar to Bāguàzhǎng, Yīngzhǎopài, Tàijíquán, and Zuìbāxiānquán. Liu is a much calmer approach, generally used when Iosepp manages to understand the patterns of the ongoing fight, hence later on—it's based mostly on wide, fluid movements made to destabilize and disorient concurrence, notably using shoulders and hips in order to control all centers of gravity involved, which makes it a game of equilibrium, whilst are landed whips, slaps and kisses alike. That constitutes the first phase, alienation; once it is completed, the enemy will act in according opposite manner to the calm temper of this mode, which then strays in two ways, two methods: displacement and discontinuation, which consist respectively of either embracing the momentum of the raging marauder as to grab a limb, bone, muscle, or nerve and then violently displace it, hence incapacitating the opponent, or instead meeting this momentum with unexpected and sudden brutal force in order to turn any burst of adrenaline on its head. Wafan Wafan is a form focused on weapon usage, modulability and diversity—It sees weapons as an extension, an attachment to one's body more than a separate thing; it thus prescribes precision and offers a basis for most weapons; that is, knuckles and hidden blades are taken into account by Jan whereas firearms are seen as separate from this martial system altogether. *Hake Hake is a mode thought for the khopesh, in conjunction with another khopesh, a shield or nothing; it is to be used notably on the head, traps and shoulders, the other-hand paraphernalia taking care of what concerns defense from the other parts of the body—even though it is now a subset of the system, and one that would seem quite incomplete at that, it is important to keep in mind that it is the most ancestral form of all, even preceding the most primitive styles of his. Its ancient focus is to be compared with Duellem's swift death mechanic, prompting vital damage in the least amount of effort, which it still uses but this time as part of its most important characteristic, hostage: the point of it is to submit the victim to Iosepp's will, as to bargain for information, reddition (especially in the case of a fight involving multiple parties) or other various things, which can be done by enclosing them in a mortal lock (a lock that can't be escaped without a risk of certain death,) breaking them psychologically, or, in respect to the manners of old, physically, hereby causing a mortal wound making him the only person who could possibly sustain the victim, yet for a still limited amount of time. Aside from that though, Hake uses the convenient shape of the khopesh to grab opponents and their limbs, granting protection against punches or kicks, and using modernized olden techniques in order to deal a massive amount of damage, notably in tearing the muscles. Its main technique also serves any bladed weapon. *Klinge Influenced by and similar to the Codex Wallerstein, Tàijíjiàn and Fior di Battaglia. Klinge is a duel-based mode, founded on confrontation and disarming more than any other style; it relies mostly on stick weapons such as staves, swords or maces, the latter are less used because they are less propice for this specific mode. Keeping an open (though wider than it giving it uses larger range) distance is key here, as it allows to prepare a correct defensive maneuver or even a counter-attack using halfswording techniques or turns. It works in conjunction with the next mode, which is more likely to be switched towards from this one. *Swert Influenced by the German school of swordsmanship, la Verdadera Destreza, Wǔdāngdāo, El Matrag and Hankumdo. Swert, usually taking place after Kline, stands on its own as a mode similar to Shuan, yet efficient in its own right; even though the stick weapons constitute a sizeable focus of the art, the focus is placed on the variability of its usage hence taking into account all melee weapons. Its goal is to incapacitate and hurt as much and as swiftly as possible, hence exploiting to its maximum extent any open cavity. Its base resides on Hake's primal principles, and Germanic war techniques, making it intrinsically different from its akin mode. Duellem (full-blown aggression) *Crudam (brutalization) *Voluntatem (mercy) *Animam (no-return) Weapon Improvisation Iosepp can use his surroundings as a weapon remarkably well; his analysis makes him able to render any element in his fighting ground lethal, and as long as there's a ground to fight on, there's still something to be scared of. Weapon Proficiency Even though common objects might be funny to use, real weapons still are necessary yet they require a certain amount of skill to use, which Iosepp has: Firearms, blades, artillery, there is none to can't be used against an enemy. Polyglottism From having gained first-hand experience by living throughout numerous countries during numerous epochs and having been given the time to study deeply, he has amassed extensive knowledge of the following official languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Ge'ez, Berber, Sardinian, Corsican, Greek language, Latin, Provençal, Francoprovençal, Catalan, Italian, French, Dutch, German, Upper and Lower Sorbian, Polish, Lithuanian, Russian, Mongolian, Mandarin, Cantonese Korean, Japanese, Ainu, Hawaiian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Scots, Caribbean creoles, and Xhosa.Across time, Iosepp has gained proficiency in numerous languages that are now obsolete, or have completely disappeared, of which the characteristics are very scarcely documented, if at all. Eversince childhood, he has known plurilingualism: in society, the Egyptian language was used but with a fair amount of variation and difference depending on the classes. It was common by that point for everyone to speak in some lect of the Late Egyptian spectrum—which evolved from colloquial usage—but reading and writing being very privilegious and controlled, Middle Egyptian had stayed the staple. Scribes had a very exclusive task as they needed to balance between multiple scripts and countless characters and withheld some of the Kingdom's most precious information. Thankfully, his father a natively inquisitive blacksmith—he would ask what the hieroglyphs he punched into the metals meant and how they were used, for example—Iosepp would acquire some of that knowledge, be it a sort of game of his to try reproducing these shapes again from memory and trying to find the resemblances with everyday objects. Despite that, it would not even be his main source of linguistic interest. Knowing his father to have hailed from a deeper land, he was accustomed to hear him speak a language that felt very alien to him, but he would never be satisfyingly taught it—there simply wasn't enough time, nor was his genitor much of a professor either—so in wanting to communicate with him, he developed a utility and motivation for that language, which he would pick up well enough to converse in his father's native Kushite language, indigenous to the older Kingdom of Kerma, a civilization once comparable to Egypt, of which the language was yet only ever spoken and not written. It is with that knowledge that Iosepp went on to forge his own life. Literally, as he became a blacksmith. He would then see scribes again, and learn even more about Egyptian writing, notably how the different scripts worked: the hieroglyphs, how they could be written faster, cursively, or the even more secret and conservative Hieratic abjad and its right-to-left reading direction. That was a lot to process but satiating one's curiosity can make one bear even the most monotonous of routines. As would soon be demonstrated in his embalming career, where aside from all the other knowledge he's acquired there, he was exposed to older relics, an Old Egyptian language, before his life was thrown into pieces over the Mediterranean Sea. It is only ever after being confronted to Orpah, feeling so helpless, in an environment where he can't really be understood—semantically—which compels him, for the first time, to radically and absolutely open himself to a complete other culture and expression, henceforth arduously but surely accepting the Ancient Aramaic language into his vocabulary as to at least talk to her, benefitting from her verbosity to also gain knowledge of the Philistine language. His most important gain, though, was Ancient Hebrew, of which his fluency was necessary in order to trade with the Benjamites while she would be away for long periods of time. Not only that, but once the two were compelled to flee, this understanding of Semitic linguistic features would greatly help in understanding the few Proto-Arabic and Sabaic roots gathered along the way. The urgency of their situation in Ethiopia proved it necessary for the couple to, again, show selflessness and accept a more complex tongue, a rather Cushitic dialect akin to Saho which soon became riddled with Semitic influences—turning into something rather like Ge'ez—and served heavily to create a sentiment of cohesion among the community assembled around them. As he would then rummage into the various biomes of the continent, walking without a set goal, he would see the process repeat itself, with surprising new features at every turn: an implosive retroflex stop in Oromo, pitch accents in Somali, advanced tongue root vowel harmony in Maasai, prenasalized consonants in Sonjo, click consonants in Hadza, first-person plural clusivity in Fula and voiced velar fricatives in the dialect continuum spoken by the various Berber tribal populations roaming around the Maghreb. Upon arrival in Sardinia, it became rather easy to adapt and it is with the Nuragic language that Iosepp developed the civilization there, before being assimilated by the Etruscan soft power, which opened the region greatly. By that time, Phœnician had become common knowledge to him: a lingua franca of sorts, which he soon abandoned when joining the Ligurian coast and its greatly overwhelming condensed melting-pot, which proved itself to be a challenge. For the first time, now, most people were bilingual speakers of Ligurian and Gaulish dialects and would even dabble in neighbouring languages: a must-do, especially when came the Etruscans here as well, alongside the Phocæns known as the Massaliotes and other Celts and other Italics. It was only a matter of time before the Æolians' Greek and Romans' Latin would grow to be essential. By the time he awakened from his conscious slumber, that is exactly what it had becomen. It had immensely evolved and was now somewhat more... Vulgar. Ironically though, unlike the name suggests, this manner of speaking soon developed into something more unique and less mutually intelligible to more remote populations, developing its own Provençal character. Although the people seemed not to have changed so heavily, the elites had greatly. They even spoke their own languages—as proud Germanic peoples, they would not certainly not abandon their culture—those ones spoke Gothic, which only few within their circle would learn but his curiosity had gotten the better of them, that is, until another people tried spreading their own culture, and if not for God's—yet another one—their word. The Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate who would leave a Qu'ran every raid or so would be providing rather extensive reading material for Iosepp, who soon became fascinated by this new Arabic abjad, and this new Arabic language. It was easy to assimilate what it meant, given his already large understanding of Semitic languages by that point. It'd be the only book of its kind, though, when a another breed of Germans arrived: the Franks. They had made a very destructive entry and it seemed that nothing good would stem from that, forcing Iosepp's retreat deeper into the mountains, organizing his visits in the large cities way sparsely. In having more time for conversation with deeply secluded communities, he very soon got in closer contact with the Francoprovençal identity again. With Livia—an Iberian migrant—Iosepp got accustomed to Catalan and sometimes even Basque, which became very intimate languages for him, hence his lack of usage of them. By that point, the Franks had broken down again and left more place to the Burgundians and their own elite language: an absolute breeze. That is, at least, compared to the old French and High German which were a complete change of scenery. Literally also, although those allowed him to be more mobile, able to be more adventurous and discover more, notably in his encountering of other readers—generally religious personalities, most people still can't read or write at that time—who shared with him their medieval understanding of Latin, Greek, and even his once-cherished Hebrew. But his penitence was over, so he felt the need to move to a more profane register, reconciling with oral tradition by sticking with Romani peoples, assimilating their language as he moved on to another land, one perhaps more refractory as he was confronted once more with isolation alongside Sarah, picking up, here and there, new lects—such as Sorbian, Polish, Samogitian and South Estonian—as the need arose again in another arduous terrain and situation, only pushing to another one of his long periples. The failure that had been his life past that point led him to lose himself completely to listening to the various peoples and their equally varied languages: notably Ingrian and Old East Slavic, which would then be known as Russian, an evolution Iosepp would not notice. In fact, he would be impregnating his mind with the language of the Khanty people, far in the depths of Siberia, far from one would consider civilization. Once he had had enough of this freezing atmosphere, he moved on to Mongolia—alongside a group of Tuvans—where he learned its language, prospered and discovered anew; he was reborn. Past his life there, he went ahead and travelled again, spending more time learning those new standardized languages. Mandarin and Korean—conflict motivating him to keep seeking new horizons—Japanese—through which he got to a fruitful yet not exactly proficient level of Ainu—finally, English. Smuggled in Hawaii, the oral tradition lived through its own language and pidgin in the plantations, but when Iosepp made a brutal entry into the contemporary society, this was over. As to not abandon his love for learning of peoples' multitudes of cultures, when he discovered the educational system, school, he figured that using his previously acquired knowledge to understand the prevailing and modern standards would help. How beautiful was it to learn again, with French, German, even Spanish or Italian for example. After the events of Crossroads and of his ventures in North America, he would finally jump from Caribbean island to another, creole to another, to make a final stop, and for a final person, learn a final language: Xhosa. Taking all of this into account, Iosepp would have then acquired sufficient proficiency in the following languages, listed alphabetically and by language families: unclassified : • Hadza : • Kushite : • Nuragic : • Philistine creoles and pidgins : • Anguillan : • Antillan (Dominican • Guadeloupean • Saint Lucian) : • Bahamian : • Bajan : • Belizean : • Bimbashi : • Bocas del Toro : • Bourbonnais (Agalega • Chagossian • Mauritian • Réunion • Rodriguan • Seychellois) : • Chinese : • Esmeraldeño—Chota : • Grenadian English : • Grenadian French : • Guianan : • Guyanese : • Haitian : • Hawaiian Creole : • Hawaiian Pidgin : • Iyaric : • Jamaican Patois : • Japanese Bamboo : • Japanese Pidgin : • Juba : • Kanbun Kundoku : • Korean Bamboo : • Kyakhta : • Kyowa-go : • Leeward Islander : • Limonese : • Macanese : • Maridi : • Miskito : • Montserrat : • Nubi : • Petinègue : • Rama Cay : • Sabir : • Saint Kitts : • San Andrés—Providencia : • Solombala : • Tobagonian : • Trinidadian : • Turks and Caicos : • Virgin Islands : • Xieheyu : • Yokohamese ainu : • Hokkaidō :Kamikawa :Northeastern :Oshima :Samani :Sapporo :Sōya : • Kuril : • Sakhalin :Raychishka :Taraika afro—asiatic : • Cushitic : • Lowland East : • Oromoid : • Oromo : Borana : Eastern Oromo : Orma : Oromo : Waata : • Saho—Afar : Saho : • Somali : Baiso—Jiidu (Baiso • Jiidu) : Dabarre—Tunni (Dabarre • Tunni) : Girirra : Karre—Boni (Aweer • Garre) : Maay : Rendille : Somali (Af-Ashraaf • Benaadir • Degodia • Northern • Ogaden) : • Egyptian (Old ↤ Middle — Late) : • Semitic : • Central : • Arabic (Proto—Arabic ↦ Old ↦ Classical ↦ New ↦ Modern Standard) : • Old dialects : Old Hejazi : Nabatæan : • New dialects : Egyptian (Maṣri • Ṣa‘īdi) : Levantine (Cypriot Maronite • Libanese • Jordanian • North Syrian • Palestinian Arabic • Šāmi) : • Maghrebi : Algerian (Algiers • Constantine • Oran) : Andalusian : Hassaniya (Imeraguen • Nemadi) : Jileli : Libyan (Eastern • Judeo—Tripolitanian • Southern • Tripolitanian • Western Egyptian Bedawi) : Moroccan (Fez—Meknes • Jebli • Judeo—Moroccan • Marrakech • Oujda • Rabat—Casablanca • Southern • Tangiers) : • Siculo—Arabic : Maltese (Gozo • Port • Rural Central • Rural Eastern • Rural Western • Zurrieq) : Tamanghasset : Tunisian (Judeo—Tunisian • Northwestern • Sahil • Sfaw • Southeastern • Southwestern • Tunis) : Mesopotamian (Baghdadi • Khuzestani • Judeo—Baghdadi • Judeo—Iraqi • Moslawi) : • Peninsular : Bahrani (Ajami • Sunni) : Bareqi (Al-Hasaa • Bahraini • Khamseh • Kuwaiti Hadari • North Qatari • South Qatari • Zubair—Faau) : Bedawi (Northeast Egyptian • North Levantine • Nuclear Eastern Egyptian • South Levantine) : Gulf : Hejazi (Coastal Tihaamah • Northern • Southern • Valley Tihaamah) : Judeo—Yemeni (Aden • Beda • Habban • San'a) : Najdi (Al-Murrah—Ajman • Anizah • Arid—Washm—Sudair • Bedouin • Najran—Ghatan • Northern • Qasim—Dhafir) : Omani (Dhofari • Shihhi) : Yemeni (Ḥaḍrami • San'ani • Ta'izzi—Adeni • Tihamiyya • Yafi'i) : Sudanese (Ja'ali • Khartoum • North Kordofan Arabic • Shukri • Western Sudanese) : • Northwest : Aramaic (Ancient) : • Canaanite : Hebrew (Biblical ↦ Mishnaic ↤ Medieval ↦ Modern) : Phœnician : • Southern : • Ethiopic : • Northern : Ge'ez : Old South Arabian : • Tamazic (Proto—Tamazic) : • Eastern : • β-Tamazic : Awjila : Ghadamès (Ayt—Ulid • Ayt—Waziten) : • Nuclear : Nafusi (Jbali—Tamezret • Jerba • Jerbi • Tamezret • Zuara) : Siwi : Tasuknit (Fuqaha • Sokna • Tmessa) : Guanche : • Northern : • Atlas : Central Atlas Tamazight : Ghomara : Senhaja de Srair (Beni Ahmed • Beni Bechir • Beni Buensar • Beni Jennus • Beni Mesdui • Beni Seddat • Ketama • Sarcat • Tagsut) : Tashelhiyt (Ahtuken • Ayt Baamran • Ayt Uauzghit • Igliua • Ighujdamen • Iznagen) : • Kabyle (Western • Eastern) : • Zenati : • Beni Iznasen : Beni Atike : Beni Khaled : Beni Mangush : Beni Urimesh : • Eastern Middle Atlas : Ayt Alaham : Ayt Morghi : Ayt Seghrushen : Ayt Warayn : Ayt Yub : Marmusha : • Mzab—Wargla : Figuig (Gourara • South Oran • Touat) : Tidikelt : Tumzabt : Tuwat : Wad Righ : Wargla : • Riff : Riffian : Shawiya : Sheliff Basin : Tlemcen : • Southeastern Tunisian—Libyan : Sened : Zuwara : • Western Algerian : Beni Snous : Shenwa : Numidian : • Tuareg : • Northern : Tahaggart Tamahaq (Ghat • Hoggar) : • Southern : Tamasheq (Tadghaq • Tadhaq • Timbuktu) : Tawallammat Tamajaq (Ioullemmeden • Tan Ataram • Tan Dannag) : Tayart Tamajeq (Air • Tanassfarwat) : • Western : Tetserret : Zenaga (Id-ab-Lahsen • Tendgha) austronesian : • Malayo—Polynesian :: • Nuclear : • Central—Eastern : • Eastern : • Oceanic : • Central—Eastern : • Central Pacific : • Eastern : • Polynesian : • Nuclear : • Eastern : • Ellicean : • Central—Eastern Polynesian : • Marquesic : Hawaiian indo—european : • Balto—Slavic : • Baltic : • Eastern : Latvian (Latgalian • New Curonian) : Lithuanian : Samogitian : Selonian : Semigallian : • Slavic : • Old East Slavic (Novgorod • Russian) : Belarusian : Russian : Rusyn : Ukrainian : • Western : • Lechitic : • Old Polish : • Lusatian : Lower Sorbian : Upper Sorbian (Bautzen • Kamenz) : • Celtic : Gaulish : Ligurian : • Germanic : • Eastern : Burgundian : Gothic (Crimean • Ostrogothic • Visigothic) : • Western : • Ingvæonic : • Anglo—Frisian : • Anglic : • English (Old ↤ Middle ↤ Early Modern — Modern) : • Afro—Asian : Brunei : Burmese : Cameroonian : Ghanian : Hong Kong : Indian : Kenyan : Liberian : Malawian : Malaysian : Nepali : Nigerian : Pakistani : Philippine : Singaporean : South African : South Atlantic : Sri Lankan : Ugandan : • British : Channel Islander (Alderney • Guernsey • Jersey) : English (Anglo—Cornish • Black Country • Bristolian • Brummie • Cheshire • Cockney • Cumbrian • Essaxon • Geordie • Hartlepudlian • Janner • Kentish • Lancastrian • London • Mackem • Mancunian • Norfolk • Northumbrian • Pitmatic • Pompey • Scouse • Smoggie • Suffolk • Sussex • Telford • Yorkshire) : Gibraltarian : Irish (Cork • Dublin • Donegal • Kerry • Limerick • Sligo • Waterford • Wexford) : Manx : Scottish : Ulster (Belfast • Derry • Southern) : Welsh (Cardiff • Gower) : • Latin—American : Anguillan : Antiguan : Bahamian : Bajan : Bay Islander : Belizean : Cayman Islander : Falkland Islander : Guyanese : Jamaican : Samaná : San Andrès—Providencia : Trinidadian and Tobagonian : Vincentian : • North American : American (Baltimore • Boston • Cajun • Californian • Ebonics • Hoi Toider • Inland Northern • Miami • Midland • New Mexican • New Orleans • New York City • Pacific • Pennsylvania • Philadelphia • Pittsburgh • Rhode Island • Southern Appalachian • Texas • Western New England • Yeshiva • Yooper) : Bermudian : Canadian (Cape Breton • Lunenburg • Newfoundland • Ottawa • Québec) : • Oceanian : Australian (Aboriginal • Queensland • Southern • Torres • Victorian • Western) : New Zealander (Maori • Southland • Taranaki) : • Scots (Early ↤ Middle ↤ Modern) : Central (Northeast • Southeast • Southwest • Western) : Glaswegian : Insular (Orcadian • Shetlandic) : Northern (Black Isle • Caithness • Cromarty • Doric • Easter Ross • Southern) : Southern : Ulster : • Irminonic : • High German (Middle • Judeo—German) : • Central : • Eastern : German : Lusatian : Thuringian : • Upper : • Alemannic : • Low Alemannic : Upper Rhenish (Alsatian • Baden • Basel • Black Forest) : • High Franconian : East Franconian : South Franconian : Old Frankish : • Hellenic : • Greek (Ancient ↦ Koiné ↤ Medieval ↦ Modern) : • Central : Æolic : Arcadocypriot : Pamphylian : • Doric : Tsakonian : • Ionic—Attic : Cappadocian : Cypriot : Italiot (Calabrian • Griko • Sicilian) : Mariupolitan : Pontic : Romano—Greek : Yevanic : • Indo—Iranian : • Indo—Aryan : • Romani : • Italic : • Latino—Faliscan : • Latin (Old — Classical — Vulgar — Medieval ↦ Renaissance ↦ New ↦ Contemporary) ; Romance : • Gallo—Romance : Arpitan (Celle San Vito • Dauphinois • Faeto • Franche-Comtois • Lyonnais • Neuchâtelais • Neuch—Telois • Savoyard • Valaisan • Valdôtain • Vaudois) : • Oïl : Angevin : Berrichon : Bourbonnais : Bourguignon : Champenois (Eastern • Western) : Frainc-Comtou : • French (Old ↦ Middle ↦ Renaissance ↤ Classical ↤ Modern) : • African : Burkinabé : Ivorian : Maghreb (Algerian • Moroccan • Tunisian) : Pataouète : Senegalese : • American : Acadian (Cadian • Chiac) : Brayon : Frenchville : Guadeloupean : Guyanese : Haitian : Louisiana (Cajun • Colonial) : Manitoban (Montagne • Rouge • Saint—Boniface • Seine) : Martinican : Michigan : Missouri : Muskrat : New England : New Hampshire : Ontarian : Terre—Neuvien : Québécois (Chaouin • Joual • Magoua • Montrealese) : • Asian : Indian : Indochinese (Campuchean • Lao • Vietnamese) : Libanese : • European : Aostan : Belgian : French (Alsacien • Breton • Corse • Franche—Comté • Gaga • Lorrain • Lyonnais • Marseillais • Méridional • Savoyard) : Jersey : Swiss : • Indian—Pacific : Madagascar : Maurician : New Caledonian : Réunionnais : Rodrigue : Seychelles : Gallo : Lorrain : Mayennais : • Norman (Old Anglo—Norman Modern) : Augeron : Auregnais : Cauchois : Cotentinais : Guernésiais : Jèrriais : Sercquiais : Orléanais : Picard : Poitevin : Saintongeais : Tourangeau : Walloon : • Gallo—Italic : Ligurian (Brigasque • Genoese • Intemelio • Monégasque • Royasque • Tendasque) : Piedmontese (High • Low • Turinese) : • Ibero—Romance : • West Iberian : • Galician—Portuguese : Galician (Ancares • Bergantiños • Central • Eonavian • Fisterra • Limia • Lucu—Auriense • Mindoniense • Pontevedra • Zamora) : Lusitanic : • Portuguese : Angolan : Brazilian (Baiano • Brasiliense • Caipira • Carioca • Cearense • Desflorestamento • Florianopolitan • Fluminense • Gaúcho • Mineiro • Nortista • Paulistano • Recifense • Sertanejo • Sulista) : Cape Verdean : East Timorese : Indian : Guinean : Macanese : Mozambican : Oliventian : Portugal (Alentejano • Algarvio • Alto—Alentejano • Barranquenho • Beirão • Estremenho • Madeirense • Micaelense • Minhoto • Portuense • Transmontano) : Riverense Portuñol : São Tomean : • Spanish (Early ↤ Modern) : Canarian : Equatoguinean : Ladino : • Pan—American : American (Chicano • Isleño • New Mexican • Puerto Rican) : Amazonic : Andean : Belizean : Bolivian (Camba • Chapaco • Vallegrandino • Valluno) : Chilean (Chilote • Cuyano) : Colombian (Chocoano • Cundiboyacense • Llanero • Opita • Paisa • Pastuso • Rolo • Santanderean) : Costa Rican : Cuban : Dominican : Ecuadorian (Cuencano • Esmeraldeño • Guayaquileño • Lojano • Manabita • Northern • Quijos • Quiteño • Southern) : Guatemalan : Honduran : Mexican (Altiplano • Bajacaliforniano • Bajío • Chiapaneco • Costeño • Northeastern • Northwestern • Southern—Central • Western • Yucateco) : Nicaraguan : Panamanian : Paraguayan : Peruvian (Neolimeño • Ribereño • Tumbes) : Philippine : Rioplatense : Salvadoran : Venezuelan (Caracas • Lara • Margaritan • Zulian) : • Peninsular : Northern (Aragonese • Asturian • Basque • Cantabrian • Castilian • Castrapo • Cuenca • Guadalajara • Leonese • Navarrese • Riojan) : Central—Southern (La Mancha • Madrid • Toledo) : Southern (Andalusian • Castúo • Murcian) : • Italo—Dalmatian : Judeo—Italian (Bagitto • Corfiot • Ferraran • Florentine • Mantuan • Modenan • Piedmontese • Reggian • Roman • Venetian) : • Tuscan : • Corsican : Capraiese : Castellanese : Cismontano Capocorsino : Cismontano : Gallurese : Oltramontano : Sartenese : Sassarese : Transizione Montano : • Northern : • Fiorentino : Italian (Abruzzese • Central Metafonetica • Cicolano—Reatino—Aquilano • Eastern Metafonetica • Isole Eolie • Laziale • Messinese • Molisano • Napoletano • Northern Calabrese—Lucano • Pantesco • Pugliese • Southeastern Metafonetica • Southern Calabrese • Western Sicilian) : Lucchese : Pesciatino : Pisano—Livornese : Pistoiese : Viareggino : Versiliese : • Southern : Aretino—Chianaiolo : Grossetano : Senese : • Occitano—Romance : Catalan (Old ↦ Modern) : • Occitan (Old ↦ Modern) : • Gascon : Aranese : Nuclear (Ariégois • Baish Aranès • Béarnais • Landais • Mijaranés Aranés • Naut Aranés) : • Northern : Auvergnat (Lower • Upper) : Limousin (Lower • Upper) : Vivaro—Alpine (Cisalpine • Gardiòl • Gavòt • Vivaro—Dauphinois) : • Southern : Languedocian (Guyennais • Lower • Middle • Upper) : Provençal (Maritime • Nissart • Rhodanien • Shuadit • Transalpine) : • Sardinian : Campidanese (Arborense • Cagliare • Central • Meridionale • Ogliastrino • Sarrabense • Sub-Barbaricino • Sulcitano • Western) : Logudorese (Barbaricino • Northern • Nuorese • Southwestern) japonic : • Japanese (Early Modern ↦ Modern) : • Eastern : • Kantō : • Eastern : Ibaraki : Tochigi : • Western : Chiba (Bōshū • Chiba proper) : Gun'nai : Jōshū : Kanagawa : Saitama (Chichibu • Saitama proper) : Tama : Tokyo (New Tokyo • Shitamachi • Yamanote) : • Tōhoku : • Northern : Akita : Hokuetsu : Nambu (Morioka • Shimokita) : Shōnai : Tsugaru : • Southern : Aizu : Fukushima : Sendai : Southern Iwate (Kesen • Iwate proper) : Yamagata (Murayama • Shinjō • Yonezawa) : • Tōkai–Tōsan : • Echigo : Jōetsu : Nagaoka : Niigata : Uonuma : • Gifu—Aichi : Hida : Mikawa (Okazaki • Toyohashi) : Mino : Owari (Chita • Nagoya) : • Na—Ya—Shi : Nagano (Chūshin • Hokushin • Nanshin • Okushinano • Tōshin) : Shizuoka (Enshū • Ikawa • Izu) : Yamanashi (Kōshū • Narada) : • Kyūshū : • Hichiku : Chikugo (Ōmuta • Yanagawa) : Chikuhō : Gotō : Hakata : Hita : Iki : Kumamoto : Nagasaki (Sasebo • Hirado) : Saga (Karatsu • Tashiro) : Tsushima : • Hōnichi : Buzen (Kitakyūshū • Nakatsu) : Miyazaki : Ōita : • Satsugū : • Kagoshima : Morokata : Ōsumi : • Satsuma : Central : • Hokusatsu : Izumi—Akune : Nagashima—Shishijima : • Southern : Makurazaki : Western Ōsumi : • Koshikijima : Kami—Koshikijima : Naka—Koshikijima : Shimo—Koshikijima : • Eastern Ōsumi : Tanegashima (Northern • Southern) : Yakushima (Kuchinoerabu • Yakushima proper) : • Tokara : Kami—Tokara : Naka—Tokara : Shimo—Tokara : • Western : • Chūgoku : • San'in : Iwami : Inshū : Tajima : Tango : • San'yō : Aki : Eastern Hiroshima (Bingo • Fukuyama) : Okayama : Western Iwami : Yamaguchi : • Hokuriku : Echizen : Etchū : Noto : Sado : Southern Ishikawa (Kaga • Kanazawa) : • Kansai : • Inner : Iga : Kobe : Kyoto (Gosho • Machikata • Southern Yamashiro • Tanba) : Northern Nara : Osaka (Kawachi • Senba • Senshū • Settsu) : Shiga : • Outer : Awaji (Northern • Sumoto • Tokushima) : Ise : Northern (Kohoku • Northern Tanba • Southern Fukui) : Southern (Kishū • Shima) : Western (Banshū • Southern Tanba) : Totsukawa—Kumano : • Shikoku : Awa : Kōchi (Hata • Tosa) : Iyo : Sanuki (Seisan • Tōsan) : • Umpaku : Izumo : Oki : Yonago koreanic : • Silla :: • Jeju :: • Korean (Middle ↤ Modern) : • Central : Chungchŏng (Northern • Southern) : Kyŏnggi : • Chaeirŏ : • Chŏlla : • Chungguk : • Hamgyŏng : Koryŏmal : • Kangwŏn : Yŏngdong : Yŏngsŏ : • Kyŏngsang : • Northwestern : Hwanghae : P'yŏng'an : • Yukchin mongolic : • Mongolian (Middle ↤ Preclassical ↦ Classical ↦ Modern) niger—congo : • Atlantic—Congo :: • Benue—Congo : • Bantoid : • Southern Bantoid : • Narrow Bantu : • Northeast Bantu : • Kikuyu—Kamba : Sonjo : • Southern Bantu : • Nguni : • Zunda : isiXhosa (Bomvana • Cele • Gaika • Gcaleka • Mfengu • Mpondo • Mpondomse • Ndlambe • Rhathabe • Thembu • Xesibe) : isiZulu (Ngoni • Qwabe) : isiNdebele (saseNyakatho • seSewula) : • Tekela : Bhaca : Hlubi : Lala : Nhlangwini : Phuthi (Mpapa • Sigxodo) : Sumayela Sdebele : Swati :: • Senegambian : • Fula—Serer—Wolof : • Fula : Eastern : Adamawa (Bilkire • Garoua • Gombe • Kambariire • Maroua • Ngaondéré • Nomadic) : Eastern Central : Nigerian (Bororo • Kano—Katsina • Sokoto) : Wodaabe nilo—saharan : • Eastern Sudanic : • Kir—Abbaian : • Nilotic : • Eastern : • Teso—Lotuko—Maa : • Maa : Maasai (Arusa • Damat • Iloodokilani • Kaputiei • Keekonyokie • Kisonko • Kore • Laitokitok • Loitai • Matapo • Moitanik • Parakuyo • Purko • Siria) sino—tibetan : • Sinitic :: • Mandarin (Imperial ↦ Modern) : • Běijīng : Cháo–Fēng : Jīng–Chéng (Huái–Chéng • Jīngshī) : • Dōngběihuà : Hā—Fù (Chángchūn • Hā'ěrbīn) : Hēi—Sōng : Jí—Shěn (Jílín • Shěnyáng) : • Gyami : • Jiāo—Liáo : Dalian : Dandong : Qingdao : Rizhao : Weifang : Weihai : Yantai : • Lán—Yín : Lanzhou : Urumqi : Xining : Yinchuan : • Shàngjiāng : Cén—Jiāng : Cháng—Hè (Chángdé • Hèfēng • Zhāngjiājiè) : Chéng-Yú (Chéngdū • Chóngqìng) : Diānxī (Bǎo—Lù • Yáo—Lǐ) : Èběi : Guàn—Chì (Lí—Chuān • Mínjiāng • Rén—Fù • Yǎ—Mián) : Guì—Liǔ (Guìlín • Liǔzhōu) : Kūn—Guì (Guìyáng • Kūnmíng) : Qiánběi : Qiánnán : Wǔ—Tiān (Tiānmén • Wǔhàn) : Xiāngnán (Chēnzhōu • Yǒngzhōu) : • Zhōngyuán : Cai—Lu (Jining • Zhumadian) : Dungan : Fénhé (Linfen • Wanrong) : Guānzhōng : Lǒngzhōng : Luo—Xu (Luoyang • Xuzhou) : Nánjiāng (Tulufan • Yanqi) : Qín—Lǒng (Dunhuang • Gangou • Xining) : Xìn—Bèng (Bengbu • Xinyang) : Zhēng—Cáo (Kaifeng • Nanyang • Zhengzhou) :: • Yue : • Yuehai : • Guan-Bao : Dongguan : Waitou : • Guǎngfǔ : Guangzhou : Hong Kong—Macau (Hong Kong • Hong Kong—Guangdong • Hong Kong—Guangzhou • Macau) : Tanka : Wuzhou : Xiguan : • Sanyi : Jiujiang : Nanhai : Shunde : Xiqiao : • Zhongshan : Sanjiao : Shiqi turkic : • Common Turkic :: • Siberian ::: • Sayan :::: • Tuvan (Central • Northeastern • Southeastern • Western) : Dukhan : Dzungar : Tsengel tyrsenian : • Etruscan uralic : • Khanty : • Eastern : Far Eastern (Vakh • Vartovskoe • Vasjugan • Verkhne—Kalimsk) : Surgut (Jugan • Likrisovskoe • Malij Jugan • Pim • Tremjugan • Tromagan) : • Transitional : Salym vasconic : • Basque : • Biscayan : • Eastern : Aramaioan : Debabarrenan : Debagoienan : Durangaldean : Eibarese : Ermuan : Lea-Artibaian : Soraluzese : • Transitional : Western—Central (Deba • Elgoibar • Mendaro • Mutriku) : Western—Eastern (Busturialdea • Otxandio • Villarreal) : • Western : Arratian : Mungialdean : Nerbionese : Orozkoan : Txorierrian : Uribe Kostan : Zeberionese : • Eastern Navarrese : Roncalese : Salazarese : • Gipuzkoan : Betterrese : Goierrese : Navarrese : Urolan : • Navarro—Lapurdian : Lapurdian : • Lower Navarrese : Eastern : Western : • Upper Navarrese : Aezkoan : Baztanese : • Zuberoan :Emboldened languages are those that Iosepp has actually learnt. :Italicized languages are those that Iosepp has or would have consistent understanding of due to mutual intelligibility. Items Transportation Timeline 12th Century BC *c. 1197 BC: Iosepp is born. *c. 1197-1182 BC: Iosepp's upbringing. *c. 1182 BC: Iosepp moves to Memphis, capital of the New Kingdom. *c. 1182-1177 BC: Iosepp's life on Memphis. *c. 1177 BC: Iosepp is involved in the Battle of the Delta, resulting in an Egyptian victory, and Iosepp leaving the New Kingdom, with his boat named “Iosep,” which later wrecked upon the shores of Philistia, where he meets Orpah, who accompanies him to Ashdod, then the City of David, where he will then live. *c. 1174 BC: Iosepp declares his love for Orpah, is accused of witchcraft, tortured as such and escapes, killing his offenders and fleeing with his wife, through the Sinai peninsula, to Ethiopia. *c. 1173 BC: Orpah dies delivering their son, Iosepp finds the Holy Grail, gains its powers, names his son Yered, and swears to make a good man out of him, after embalming and burying the child's mother. *c. 1173-1143 BC: Iosepp raises Yered, and builds a temple dedicated to his blood legacy. *c. 1143 BC: Iosepp leaves Axum, walks to the Mediterranean shores. *c. 1111 BC: Iosepp waits. 5th Century AD *c. 476/481: Iosepp emerges, moves to Nicæa. 6th Century AD 7th Century AD 8th Century AD 9th Century AD 10th Century AD 11th Century AD 12th Century AD 13th Century AD 14th Century AD 15th Century AD 16th Century AD 17th Century AD 18th Century AD 19th Century AD 20th Century AD 21st Century AD 22nd Century AD 23rd Century AD Appearances Quotes By 'im To 'im Bout 'im Gallery Drafts Contextual References IO001-AAa1.jpg|The woman who inspired Orpah, Elizabeth SiddalLizzie Siddal was a nineteenth century model who represented the Pre-Raphælites' ideal of feminine beauty. IO001-AAa2.jpg|The painting that inspired Orpah, The Damsel of the Sanct Græl IO001-AAa3.jpg|The inscriptions found on Saint Philomena's grave IO001-AAa4.jpg|The painting that inspired the arms' hauling on the Nile: Towing on the Nile by Frederick Arthur Bridgman Author's Note Finally, I'm resurrecting this project which I held very dearly for a long time—my hommage to the team of Comic Crossroads, and with it my work of autofiction; it will be hard for me not to following the traces of my past work, but I shall try my best to get to a result I like. I don't want to disappoint anyone, but many points in the story of the first Iosepp will probably be reused here as well - speaking of which, I'm very happy to be able to use ideas I had previously scrapped, they ended up being very useful to the development of my character, and I hope my passion will be the same, if not greater. I would also like to restore my word on the older version as well, so, for those who haven't seen the first version, here's what you need to know of it. : “As you might already have noticed, this page means a lot to me, it's evident. First, it is a work of autofiction, which I have never tried, but you can easily understand how easy it is to get inspired when you talk about yourself, in a way. Secondly, Crossroads is a project I've been working on for a long time, actually, way before the Weekly Frenchy Talk, which is a fucking disaster, by the way. And I think what blows my mind about it is that I like to share knowledge with people, I just find that the best experience I can possibly have, and this is basically years of personal research, and thousands of years of human history that populates this page, and I don't think there's any way for me to be more proud of this concept. So, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, or are at least satisfied, I sadly can't write as good as I'd like to. You may also see some references to pages that do not exist yet. That is also normal, years of planning also mean loads of writing.” What I like about this character is that allows me to express thoughts I've had for years, and to share something, share my understanding of culture and history, in a way, and because it makes me more able to speak freely and personally without delving too far either. I didn't want to write autofiction to boost myself, or to tell my uninteresting life, I'm trying to create something out of a real sentiment and out of a real passion for what I'm doing. Obviously, I may not do the better choices, and my execution probably won't change much from the older version, but know that even though it may seem a little redundant, or unsatisfying, I'm at least trying my best to not repeat myself. So, to whomever sees this; I hope I can share my feelings with you. — FrenchTouch If any of you have any questions about what I'm going to do this time, feel free to ask them, I will answer those here. Notes and References Trivia *Iosepp is a work of autofiction, meaning it is referential to its own author, in this case, FrenchTouch. **The idea of making autofiction was inspired by RoninTheMasterless' first Knight Owl. Feedback Questions *Why a new version of Iosepp? The first version of Iosepp relied too much on the fanfiction in which the entire Crossroads series was anchored, and I've deleted it hot-headedly and thus, without thinking much about it, but as I look back at it, I can see how I could have potentially ported it to an original universe, but I decided to re-do it entirely, and I frankly don't regret it - to be fair, I already view this version as much superior than any other work of mine here. *It sucks shit. That's not a question. you unpolite snotwad *What is quantum philosophy? I have to admit my rambling about it in the references' section isn't very great, so here's a more concise definition: Quantum philosophy is a branch of philosophy involving “impossible” debates, dilemmas, and other principles that can be submitted, transmitted, and discussed without directly confronting it, it's concretely the study of philosophical elements otherwise inexplicable or forever-ongoing in common philosophy. The reason why I call it quantum philosophy is because it's basically the same principle as quantum mechanics. Note that it's something I've made up and that has not been recognized by anyone in the thinking community, so it holds no technical weight, but it's the best way I can describe it. *Isn't making such a character very pretentious? I can understand the possible complaint about that—after all, Iosepp is pretty invincible and there are arguments going against autofiction as a whole, so I do imagine that it might not be for everyone to read about a character like that. Personally though, I think that being inspired by yourself leads to pretty interesting outcomes, for example, I don't think I could have ever come up with half the shit in his History if I didn't have a link with these fields before. Not to mention I'm also inspired by what I am not, a thing that Iosepp represents as well, indeed, I'm trying to write him as I would write anybody else, and I think I'm doing a commendable job at it, of course, if you know me a little, you're gonna recognize the similarities between him and I, but he also has similarities with a lot of people, and is even inspired by a lot of people, legends, and other various shit, but since the base of the character is based on myself, it can be a little disorientating, I recognize that. So, to answer concretely to the question, I don't really know, but I'm trying my best to please my public. *Wasn't the Ancient Egypt idea scrapped? Yeah, it was. *Why the Holy Grail? I read way too much Templar history. Also played way too much Indiana Jones on DOS. Aside from that, I thought it would be a very interesting thing to implement in a story—the idea came to me while I was studying the historical and religious patrimony in the Alpes-Maritimes. *Why Joseph? It's one of the most popular names and has the most variants. I couldn't find any name that was original but still made sense, so I went with that, which makes sense from an historical point of view, which is nice. *Why so many external references? There are two answers to this questions—one completes the other, so here goes it: These references are there to give supplementary information to be understood in order to fully appreciate what I'm writing, for example if you don't know how social classes are like in Ancient Egypt you're gonna have as bad a time to understand as I will to write something you can understand, so instead of excessively focusing on these details, I'm leaving the facts out there to be read up on, whilst on a comic book format you can always show with images, but here I can't so I have to make sure that what you imagine, even if proper to you, follows at least the skeleton of the story. All in all I feel that a good paraphrase would be that these references do not only complete the character but also construct your own perception of him, I would see that physically work out as a light beam, a timeline, a quill's sway, a seemingly endless one at that, shining through a prism, the story, which breaks the light down and refracts it into other prisms, all of these prisms, these characters, these events, happenings, bits of reality, they all refract this signal differently and in all directions, but they would be positioned in such a way that the point where all of these prisms' effects join is Iosepp, a spherical mirror inside of which resides a bleeding heart, the reflection that is only a part of him is what you will see more about him, him and every other human, actually, your brain is hard-wired to think that way, yet it's only so few of what he is—but it is still him. Commentary THE END Category:Created by FrenchTouch